Moving Forward

He Didn't Have to Be

A month later...

Niomi found herself busier than ever. She had been preparing to go to VidCon and working on her healthy eating cook book entitled Eat Smart; on top of it all, she had a daughter to take care of, who was starting the process of baby led weaning. Thankfully, she had a wonderful boyfriend who was able to selflessly help her out with everything and keep her stress level to a minimum.

As Niomi packed some of her and Jude's bags, she looked at the calendar on her phone and instantly recalled the date. It was the 3rd Sunday of the month and that could only mean one thing... Father's Day. Since Marcus was no longer in the picture, Niomi didn't even think twice about allowing herself to imagine what this day would be like. Before dating Jude, she didn't think that she would have anyone to celebrate this day with her and Lucy at all. But now that she had him in her life, she couldn't imagine letting him go. So she was determined to make it special for him.

When Niomi was certain that Lucy was keeping Jude occupied, Niomi began to prepare a special lunch for Jude; which consisted of his favorite dishes and drink: quinoa salad, sweet potato fries and a kale/banana smoothie. Before she called Lucy and Jude down for lunch, Niomi retrieved Jude's presents from her shoe closet and set them onto the table, a few feet away from the food.

~X~

"Someone is having an extremely attached day. What's all this for?" Jude asked as his ocean blue eyes widened in shock.

"Happy Father's Day, love. I wanted to do something special for you since this is your first one with Lucy" Niomi responded as she placed a quick kiss on his cheek before she settled into her chair.

After finishing lunch, Niomi could no longer wait to see Jude's reaction to his presents and she obviously felt it was important to capture it on camera, so she insisted that he open it now.

"Alright then. I'll open them" Jude chuckled as he first reached for a card in a blue envelope that had 'From Penny' written on the front.

As Jude tore up the envelop he chuckled at the 101 Dalmatians Hallmark card and then proceeded to read the writing; which was similar to that of a preschool student. His mesmerizing smile widened as he read the card's content aloud:

"Dear Jude,
Thank you for picking up my poop in the morning and all the extra snuggles. I'm glad you're my human.
Love, Penny"; and on the top right hand corner of the card was a messy outline of her paw.

Jude set the card onto island counter behind him as he prepared to open the gifts from Niomi and Lucy.

"I think you should open this one first" Niomi said as she gestured toward the small cube shaped package next to the bowl of quinoa salad.

Jude's cheek began to blush crimson red with all the excitement of his first father's day. Before meeting Niomi and Lucy, he imagined that he would be married for a couple years with maybe four kids. But that morning with Lucy and Niomi made him realize that sometimes the universe's plans are better than our own.

As Jude tore up the whimsical black and white mustache themed wrapping paper and gently tore the tape off the box, his heart skipped a beat at the sight of a eggshell white personalized mug with his initials printed on the front and their first family photo on the back. On the bottom of the mug, Niomi had cleverly placed a neon green post-it note that read:

The best part of waking up is knowing that you're with me through it all. I love you. Xx -Niomi

"Nims, this is absolutely wonderful. Thank you" Jude sighed as he leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"I'm afraid that's not the best part. Lucy has bested me at the greatest gift of all" Niomi replied as her eyes moved towards the large rectangular package; which she admitted was the most difficult to wrap.